In a stern rebuke to frivolous litigations, the Bombay High Court has imposed a penalty of Rs 25,000 on a clerk from an educational institution for attempting to deceive the judiciary. The division bench, comprising Justices Ravindra Ghuge and Ashwin Bhobe, dismissed the petition by Vijay Fasale, who sought to alter his date of birth in government records.
Fasale, a clerk employed since June 1997 in Sangli district, filed a petition to change his birth year from 1968 to 1972, which would make him appear four years younger. The court scrutinized Fasale’s school documents and highlighted inconsistencies. His records showed he passed the 10th standard in May 1984. If his requested birth year of 1972 were accurate, this would imply he completed his 10th standard at merely 12 years old, having started 1st standard at the improbable age of one.
The bench remarked on the absurdity and impossibility of such claims, stating, “If the date of birth of the petitioner is taken as June 1972 only for the sake of assumption, then it would mean that he had passed his 10th standard at the age of 12 years, thereby meaning he was admitted in the 1st standard in June 1973 when he was one year old.” The court emphasized that such attempts to mislead the court must not be tolerated and should serve as a deterrent to similar actions by others.
With the dismissal of the petition, the court ordered the penalty to be deducted from Fasale’s salary and directed the funds to be deposited into the Kirtikar Law College library.
